Chapter 10

Brother-in-law.

Feng Kaiwen stared blankly, stunned.

The young student felt as if he had experienced an enormous shock and he stood quietly at his teacher’s side as he slowly reconstructed his worldview. He snuck a few peeks at Officer Huo, who was smiling warmly at his teacher. Feng Kaiwen’s sense of shame deepened.

Huo Zhixing was an honest, just and righteous police officer who did his best to serve the people. How could he possibly be a two-timing scumbag who knocked up some girl behind his husband’s back?

Feng Kaiwen obediently kept his mouth shut and continued his self-reflection.

Tong Qiu was a bit startled when he heard Huo Jiao call out ‘saozi’. He was sure that Huo Zhixing had already told Huo Jiao about their divorce.

“I was just telling my brother that I haven’t seen you in a while.” Huo Jiao’s eyes swept over the student standing next to Tong Qiu and added in a low voice, “Ah, your student’s here too. Should I not have said anything?”

“No worries,” Tong Qiu grinned. “This young man’s mental fortitude is extremely strong.”

Huo Jiao smiled and suggested that they sit down somewhere and have a chat.

“I’m gonna head home,” said the mentally strong Feng Kaiwen. He was a bit too embarrassed to face his ex-shimu and made a clever retreat. “Tong-ge, I’m off.”

“Alright, be careful on your way back. Don’t play around and just go straight home.”

“I know, I know!” Feng Kaiwen gave Tong Qiu a wave. Before he left, he blurted out, “Huo-shushu, I’m sorry!”

“What’s going on?” Huo Zhixing said, baffled. “Why did he apologize to me?”

Tong Qiu smiled and told him the whole story, which made Huo Zhixing burst into laughter.

The three of them found a dessert shop and went inside. Huo Jiao asked Huo Zhixing, “Did you tell him yet?”

“Huh? Tell me what?”

Huo Zhixing turned to Tong Qiu. “I was going to tell you, but it’s been so busy these days that I couldn’t find the time.”

Huo Jiao leaned forward across the table and said with a brilliant smile, “I’m getting married next month!”

It took a few moments for Tong Qiu to process the news. “Who’s getting married?”

“Me, of course!” Huo Jiao had a dainty, petite frame and even though she was thirty years old, she looked like a young woman in her twenties. Adopted by the Huo family when she was young, Huo Jiao had been showered with affection since she was little. She got along rather well with Tong Qiu, and ever since Huo Jiao gained a new brother-in-law, she had thrown her own brother aside and went straight to Tong Qiu whenever there was something on her mind.

“Why so sudden?” Tong Qiu hadn’t heard anything about a wedding from Huo Jiao and was completely caught off guard.

Huo Jiao explained, “We were planning on getting married next year but we recently found out that I’m pregnant so we figured we might as well get married now.”

Tong Qiu’s gaze inadvertently dropped to Huo Jiao’s stomach. Huo Jiao rubbed at it a little and said, “It’s only been two months so I’m not showing yet. We thought we’d try to get the wedding all sorted out before I get bigger.”

“You’ve thought it through?” Tong Qiu himself had gone through the whole marriage process, as well as the divorce process. Although Huo Zhixing was a good man and they had stayed on good terms after their divorce, Tong Qiu now had a more cautious outlook on the subject.

“Mm-hm, we’ve already been together for years. We were planning on getting married eventually so it doesn’t matter if we do it now or later.” Huo Jiao glanced at him, then glanced over at her brother. “I guess I shouldn’t be calling you saozi anymore, but I’m so used to it already that it’s hard to change.”

Tong Qiu knew that Huo Jiao was still fond of him, so he smiled and said reassuringly, “Don’t worry about it. It’s just a name, so if you can’t change then don’t force yourself.”

When his words reached Huo Zhixing’s ears, Huo Zhixing’s mood lifted significantly. And when the waiter brought them the desserts they ordered, he reached over and handed a few napkins to Tong Qiu without being asked.

Huo Jiao watched her brother and muttered to herself, “Looks like I’m not the only who’s not used to it.”

—

Huo Jiao’s wedding was set for the middle of March and no matter how busy he was, Tong Qiu knew he would have to attend.

The rest of Huo Zhixing’s family was still unaware that they had gotten divorced so not only was his attendance mandatory, but he and Huo Zhixing also had to keep up the pretense of a married couple. Tong Qiu counted the days left before the wedding and sighed ruefully, “Sure enough, the heavens have assigned me an impossible task.”

Yu-laoshi asked, curious, “What impossible task?”

Tong Qiu flashed a mysterious smile. “You should raise your glass and ask the skies!”

Because of Huo Jiao’s wedding, Tong Qiu had been in frequent contact with the Huo family over the past few days. He had some time off on Sunday afternoon and had agreed to go wedding dress shopping with Huo Jiao.

When they arrived at the store, the salesclerk mistook the two of them for the bride and groom, and had frantically tried to promote the shop’s wedding attire. However, when Huo Zhixing arrived after work, the salesclerk had a moment of doubt.

There were now two handsome men with the bride but which one was the groom?

The answer? Neither.

The salesclerk then realized that the two men were a couple and said to them, “Our designer actually designed a matching set gay couples – are the two of you planning to get married soon?”

“No…” Tong Qiu replied.

“That’s fine too, it wouldn’t hurt to take a look first! You can always plan ahead in case you do decide to get married someday,” the salesclerk said smoothly. Tong Qiu almost blurted out that he and Huo Zhixing were already divorced.

However, just because he wasn’t interested didn’t mean that Huo Zhixing wasn’t interested.

“Then let’s see it,” Huo Zhixing said.

Tong Qiu stared at him in astonishment, but Huo Zhixing was already dragging him in the direction that the salesclerk was leading them. “Humour me,” Huo Zhixing said. “Who knows, maybe I’ll need a wedding suit one day.”

Huo Zhixing’s words made Tong Qiu furrow his brows and for some strange reason, he felt a little jealous.

He shouldn’t be jealous, though. As a distinguished member of modern society, as well as a renowned teacher in the city, he shouldn’t be so petty. Instead, he should be magnanimous and gracious and sing the lyrics “if you’re happy, then I’m happy” to his ex-husband.

The enthusiastic salesclerk prattled on as she led them to the back of the store. “Since same-sex marriage has only been legalized for two years, there are barely any gay wedding outfits in the market. Most of the time, two grooms will just make do with similar-looking suits, but you shouldn’t be ‘making do’ for something as important as a wedding!”

She turned back and cast them a glance. “I’m sure the two of you will look amazing when you try on the suits we’ve designed!”

Huo Zhixing smiled. He was really looking forward to it, to be honest.

When he and Tong Qiu had gotten married, they had simply invited a few friends out for dinner. There had been no ceremony and no honeymoon either. Even though he had never said anything about it, Huo Zhixing still felt that there was a lot he still owed Tong Qiu.

He’d have to make up for it this time around and make sure they say their vows in front of all their friends and family.

The pair followed the salesclerk into the display room. As soon as they entered, they saw the wedding set on display in the center of the room – it was truly as stunningly beautiful as the salesclerk had described.

Tong Qiu would never have imagined an outfit like the one before him. It was a cross between a wedding suit and a wedding dress and the very sight of it was like an arrow to his racing heart.

The salesclerk said, “This first suit was designed in the early stages with the idea that anyone could be their own bride or husband because everyone deserves to be happy, no matter if they’re heterosexual, homosexual or asexual. Isn’t that wonderful?”

Tong Qiu wordlessly walked a full circle around the outfit on display. The front looked like a black tuxedo but the back was like a dress with a long, white train. The extraordinary design was one that could make anyone’s jaws drop in amazement.

“After same-sex marriage was legalized, our designer created a matching outfit.” The shopkeeper walked to the other side and pulled open a door.

Tong Qiu and Huo Zhixing peered inside at the same time. Before their eyes appeared a perfect complement to the previous outfit – the wedding dress was on the front while the tuxedo was on the back.

“What do you think?” the salesclerk smiled as proudly as if she herself had designed it. “Isn’t it mind-blowing?”

Huo Jiao, who had finished changing into her wedding dress with the help of another salesclerk, came to look for her brother and brother-in-law. As soon as she came inside and caught sight of the wedding outfits she gasped aloud, “Oh my god, they look incredible!”

Huo Jiao didn’t even bother showing off her own wedding dress and walked over to the display to take a closer look. “Big brother, saozi, why don’t you two try them on!”

The design really had shaken Tong Qiu to his core. He loved it. In fact, he loved it so much that even as a languages teacher, he was incapable of stringing any words together to express his feelings.

Huo Zhixing knew Tong Qiu was conflicted so he went over and pulled Tong Qiu to a corner.

“Do you like it?”

Tong Qiu smiled. “It’s stunning.”

“Then why don’t we try them on?” Huo Zhixing said. “We both like it and we’re here anyway.”

Tong Qiu tilted his head back slightly to gaze up at Huo Zhixing. Huo Zhixing smiled and said, “There doesn’t have to be any deeper meaning to it. Let’s just say it’s making up for what we lost out on for our own wedding.”

Tong Qiu was tempted.

“C’mon, let’s go.” Huo Zhixing took Tong Qiu by the hand and led them back to the salesclerk. “Can we try them on?”

“Of course!” the salesclerk exclaimed. “Let me give our designer a call first. He insists on being here in person if there are any customers who want to try on this particular set.”

Huo Zhixing nodded his head. They weren’t in a rush and could wait for the designer while they shopped for Huo Jiao’s wedding dress.

People always say that women look the most beautiful when they’re wearing a wedding dress and it was only when Tong Qiu saw Huo Jiao standing in front of the mirror that he truly felt the truth behind those words.

Perhaps it wasn’t just the wedding dress that made her look so beautiful – maybe the sweet, dazzlingly bright aura that enveloped her was simply love.

“You look beautiful,” Tong Qiu said from the bottom of his heart. “Your husband is a lucky man.”

Huo Jiao smiled, then shot a glance at her brother. “My big brother here was a lucky man too, but he ended up throwing it all away.”

Huo Zhixing had been sending a text to Zhao Heyu about work but looked up at her words and turned towards Tong Qiu.

Tong Qiu just so happened to look up at the same time, but he quickly withdrew his gaze and murmured, “No, the problem was with me.”

Huo Jiao tried on a few more dresses before the designer finally arrived.

The designer had on a pair of sunglasses as he entered and strolled in as if he were a celebrity walking down the red carpet. All eyes were drawn to him as soon as he walked inside and everyone waited for him to come to a standstill. Before the salesclerk could speak, he whipped off his sunglasses and pointed to Tong Qiu and Huo Zhixing. “Are you two the ones who want to try on my creations?”

Huo Jiao smiled, “Is it that obvious that they’re a couple?”

The designer turned to Huo Jiao and said with a raised eyebrow, “You and I are on the same wavelength, honey. It’s something about their auras – I could tell with just one look at them.”

For some people, their relationship was so obvious that no words had to be said. Even if all they did was stand next to each other, one could still sense that they were in a world of their own.

The designer narrowed his eyes as he scrutinized the two of them from head to toe. Finally, he said, “And here I thought the day would never come.”

“What do you mean?” Tong Qiu asked.

The designer beamed as he took Tong Qiu by the elbow and replied, voice dripping with charm, “Oh sweetheart, I haven’t let just anyone lay their paws on those wedding suits. I’ve waited for ages but today, the worthy champions it’s been waiting for have finally arrived. You two, come with me – it’s showtime!”

—

The author has something to say:

The inspiration of the wedding suits was from a design by Thom Browne.